keatonatron wrote:Now that the US elections have just ended, it seems appropriate to point out that ratings are really the same as an election. By watching the show, you are voting for it. If a show has low ratings, that means no one is tuning in. People must not like it very much if they aren't watching it, right?

Just as hardcore McCain fans can't possibly understand why people would want to put Obama in the white house, hardcore fans of the show can't understand why other people would want to... not watch it. But if the ratings are low, the simple fact is that the majority of people don't like the show, so they should put something more universally liked in its place.

I can understand how much it sucks when you're the minority in a system where the majority rules. I was livid when Bush was elected for a second term

Woah, you're that old?

Due to my anger with FOX's original broadcasting method of Family Guy, I have to point out that at least in the elections, things are set up to where you know how to hear from the candidates. If you were a fan of Family Guy when it first aired like me, you realized how awesome the show was, but FOX wouldn't keep it in the same time slot every week. And then when it didn't get good ratings, they dropped it. However, I'm assuming Pushing Daisies probly had a set time slot so irrelevant

furrykef wrote:Technically only the people who are being polled by Nielsen (or whoever does ratings in your country) get to vote for it, but that's being picky.

That's another thing that angers me. I don't mind them selecting a few households to monitor for ratings, but they actually pay those families (or did so last time I checked) to determine what the rest of us watch. There is almost no end to my jealousy for people that get paid to watch TV or play video games. I am good at both of those, and I'm eloquent enough to provide good critique.

keatonatron wrote:It's the same with the presidential elections; only US citizens get to vote, but an even greater number of people not included in that group have an opinion of how things should go down.

Except US citizens don't get payed to vote. And everyone willing to register gets the opportunity to vote and finally, people not in that group's opinions don't count and don't matter..

Dehitay wrote:There is almost no end to my jealousy for people that get paid to watch TV or play video games. I am good at both of those, and I'm eloquent enough to provide good critique.

Lots of people are. I suck at watching TV, though, 'cause I pretty much never watch it. I've only started watching it again because I'm trying to learn Spanish and there's plenty of Spanish-language material on cable (more than I thought at first: SAP is an awesome thing).

Getting paid to play video games would be nice, but only if I get to choose the game. I'm definitely not envious of alpha/beta testers. I don't think there's really any other way to make money playing games other than by being a damn good tournament player, which is hard work and probably usually starts to feel like a job at some point.

Dehitay wrote:Due to my anger with FOX's original broadcasting method of Family Guy, I have to point out that at least in the elections, things are set up to where you know how to hear from the candidates. If you were a fan of Family Guy when it first aired like me, you realized how awesome the show was, but FOX wouldn't keep it in the same time slot every week. And then when it didn't get good ratings, they dropped it.

Ahh, Same goes for Firefly. However, not only did it get shafted by being played in a different timeslot every week, most of the timeslots at times hardly anyone watches anyway, but the episodes were played out of order too! Since the show tells a story, showing them out of order is a bigger deal than with a show like Family Guy.

Another good show ruined by FOX.

Lots of people are. I suck at watching TV,

I can honestly say it's been several months since I turned on my TV. I can't say it's been months since I've seen TV, if only because some of the places I go to eat have a TV prominently displayed.

I can second that. I have a friend who was trying to break into the game development industry, and was working as a tester. You know those game demos you can play at stores, that let you play one level (or 5 minutes) then automatically reset? Luckily my friend was spared, but some of the other testers had to play one of those demos, non-stop, for their 8 hours of work.

The same 5 minutes of a game, over and over, for 8 hours. Talk about mind numbing.

And for you "tangents are more interesting" folk: yes, my friend was able to move up and is now in development support, actively involved in the game development process.